Japanese theater troupe travels to The Woodlands High School

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, May 3, 2005

The demonstration included a scene from one of three productions Noh will perform in Houston next month, complete with costume, a column-divided stage and 200-year-old traditional mask.

The purpose of the high school visit was to introduce the culture and art that comprises a Noh performance.

"The Woodlands High was chosen for this because the school has a really good Japanese program," said Lauren Sethney, cultural affairs for the Consular-General of Japan at Houston. "They have a strong foundation in the Japanese language and culture and recently won the Japan Bowl."

Noh is a classical Japanese performance that combines elements of dance, drama, music and poetry and dates back to the 1300s.

"Noh has a history going back 700 years," Sethney said. "Stories are handed down from generation to generation and are done in the same way."

The Noh company Komparu, meaning "golden springs," will perform in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center June 10 at 8 p.m. and June 11 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Each time, a different performance will be given.

"It is the oldest performing art in Japan," said Koji Mizukami, general director/CEO for the Japan Expo Foundation, which produces the Komparu production. "The current Komparu master goes back 79 generations."

The basic storyline includes an "angel," or beautiful woman, who fell down to earth and put her "wing," or cloth, on a tree. A hunter finds the cloth and takes it, but the woman cannot go back to heaven without it. The hunter agrees to give the cloth back if she does the dance from heaven. Tuesday's demonstration included the heaven dance.

"It's not complete sentences, but it is very poetic," said principal performer Ylshik Honda (through translation). "For (the Japanese), it's equivalent to Americans hearing Latin — their roots. Because it's such ancient Japanese, it's hard to understand."

In May 2001, Noh gained worldwide recognition when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization proclaimed it as a "masterpiece of intangible heritage."

"This is our second time to bring Noh to the U.S.," Mizukami said. "We decided to come to Houston with them because it is one of the fastest-growing cities in America. We want to bring in the Japanese culture to the newest cities and really plant a seed full of culture and art."

There are 170 different stories in the performing art. Since there are so many shows in the art, it is necessary to start learning as early as 3 years old.

"This is not like Broadway, where you have six months at a time to perform one show," Mizukami said. "Once you perform one story, you might not perform it again for another 10 years."

Performers are born into the family, and from then on it becomes a lifelong journey.

"No women perform," Sethney said. "Men perform the women's part. Traditionally, women were not allowed on the stage because it was seen as sacred ground."

Kat Ference, a TWHS student studying Japanese, said she found the Noh production to be very intriguing. She said she was excited to attend the demonstration and workshop.

"I think the whole thing is really interesting," Ference said. "It's so entertaining; I've seen Noh on video before and it's just cool to compare to seeing it in real life."

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Japan Expo Foundation at (213) 617-0868 or visit its Web site at www.japanexpo.org.